Wilder Girls

By: Rory Power

Narrated by: Eileen Stevens, Jesse Vilinsky

Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's Summary

A feminist Lord of the Flies about three best friends living in quarantine at their island boarding school and the lengths they go to uncover the truth of their confinement when one disappears, this fresh new debut is a mind-bending novel unlike anything you've heard before.

It's been 18 months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine, since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her. 

It started slow. First the teachers died, one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything. 

But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there's more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true.

©2019 Nike Power (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Such a unique and chilling novel!!

Wowza! This book was so good!! I loved the plot, the characters, and the setting of the story. People are comparing it to Lord of the Flies because it’s an easy comparison. However, I think Wilder Girls is more original than those who compare it believe it to be.

What got my attention:
1. The way the plague-like disease affects the girls is so interesting to me. Each girl develops a different deformity that makes sense as the book goes on.
2. This is a Queer lead book, with characters embracing their sexual identify in a subtle, but powerful way.
3. There were moments I was actually creeped out. The writing was so descriptive that I found myself getting the heebiejeebies during some scenes
4. The author has a way with words. Such a rhythmic and lyrical way of writing that really draws you in and makes you want to pay attention to every word.

The reason I didn’t give it a full 5 stars:
1. I wanted to much more from the ending. It ends in a cliffhanger and I wanted this book to wrap up better. Now, I’m just sitting around wanting more and I don’t know if I like that feeling, especially when I have more questions.
2. I felt like parts of the book were rushed and Some of the scientific elements went over my head a bit. I had to go back to re-listen to some parts because I was like, “wait, what?”

But other than that, this book was phenomenal. I will definitely add this to me “re-read” pile so I can go back and find things that I might have missed. The story was just so well done!!

Sociopathic Lord of the Mutants

I have heard a lot of hype for this book. I was excited to read it because it has mutations, a primarily female cast, an F/F relationship, and I was intrigued by the idea of Lord of the Flies mixed with The Island of Dr. Moreau. It sounded fun and exciting.

Unfortunately, I didn't love it. Part of me thinks that I didn't even like it. I liked bits and pieces which is why I'm giving the book three stars, but there were some overall flaws that I just can't get past.

Only two characters out of an entire cast of people seem human. Not normal, just human with human responses. I'll give you a hint, it's not either of the POV characters. There was a lot of excess body horror to make up for the fact that the mutations were basically background noise. The romance plot goes from idle crush to a relationship that seems to lack any real emotion or connection. The love interest starts off abusive and ends up somehow being the most reasonable person in the room, but she's still willing to sacrifice almost anyone without any thought.

The author did a great job tying up loose ends. The imagery was interesting. I didn't hate the characters. I just didn't like them. It's a good book but not great. It's not necessarily bad either. I am so on the fence about this one that I don't know if I would recommend it to anyone or not. I am split down the middle.

meh

frustrating moments and poor ending, probably would not recommend. Feeling very let down by this book. Good performance.

Let’s go lesbians let’s go

This book was gross in all the best ways possible. I had no idea how much I needed a book about queer girls in a zombielike island trying to figure out what’s happening but I definitely needed it.

Interesting concept

I really loved the writing style, the aesthetic, and the narrator. I don’t really know how to rate the story itself, though. It felt like a non-ending, and the fate of other characters (a lot of them!) was left up in the air. I think I appreciated the concept more than the execution.

Fast-paced but needed more character developement

I am torn on this one. I thought the concept of the story was original, solid-paced and full of kick-ass teen girls, and I enjoyed the read…but I didn’t LOVE it and I so wanted to. I think what was lacking for me was the character development. In this story, I needed to care more about the characters in order for me to really care about what was happening to them and for this story it was crucial. The pacing overshadowed the character development and in the end it left me feeling meh about the book.

Weak plot. Good writing

The book is well written but the plot has gaps and is illogical at times. I kept listening expecting the gaps to be fixed but they never were.

More please?

This book was amazing. The descriptions were very... Descriptive? I would literally read it and cringe or just be horrified with how accurate it was. Not for weak stomachs. Very well worded. There could of been more to the relationships, description wise. Like if it was accepted or not. Or even them just being kids and discovering how they feel. Im still confused by who the main character like liked and who was just a good friend. The story was amazing other than that.


The narrator dismantle amazing job on giving each voice it's own personality. You knew when someone else was talking and who it was. You heard the emotion each character was feeling with her voice. Spoiler alert from here on.....



The house scene was truly gut wrenching. The emotions were spot on. The heartbreak and everything about the scene, truly made the story. Thanks for the good read, Rory Power.

what happened to the end of this book??

this book really falls apart over time. but I enjoyed it at first, like lost.

beautiful writing; storytelling falls very short

I was willing to give the book 3 stars for occasionally pretty prose until I read the ending... which is not an ending at all. Barely anything is explained and it's full of holes. Characterization and the relationships between characters don't make sense. [mild spoilers ahead] You can't have people beating the hell out of each other suddenly confess their feelings in the cheesiest, most useless scene in the book (because come on, you can't just teach someone to shoot like an expert in 5 minutes), and then the two get into a stupid fight and we don't see the main character's object of affection for many pages. It just makes no sense.
Also in a world where there's literally trees growing out of people's bodies, how come no one asks the vital question "what the hell is going on with us?". Nobody is even panicking much. When one of the girls disappears and wakes up with a doctor by her side she doesn't burst with questions either. It's just unrealistic. No real human being would act that way in the circumstances. Book is full of those kinds of situations and that's ultimately why it doesn't work. Considering that the main idea is taken straight out of Annihilation, it's inexcusable to not have a story and characters that make sense